A Firm Foundation Read online

  A small smile touched Paul’s lips, lightening the grim expression he had worn since she had mentioned the roof. “All right. I’ll go first. After I shower, I’ll make my calls and then we’ll make some cocoa. I don’t know about you, but I could use a hot drink.”

  He paused and ran a hand across the hood of the Honda, then grimaced at the feel of the pitted surface. “I can’t do anything about this tonight. Tomorrow will be time enough to call an insurance adjustor to look at the car.”

  They took turns showering, and Kate threw their muddy clothes into the washer. After she was clean and dry, she made the hot cocoa and shared it with Paul. Then she attacked the interior of the Honda with soap and water. Even though they had found some old blankets in the trunk and spread them over the seats, there was mud on the steering wheel, the pedal, the door handles, and even the dashboard knobs where Paul had turned on the heat.

  As she worked, her mind kept rehashing the terror she had felt lying in that ditch. Several times, she had to stop, sit back, and simply take deep breaths until she stopped shaking.

  Finally she felt satisfied that the car was clean again. As she put away the cleaning items, she thought of Livvy and the library, and she realized she hadn’t even given a thought to how the town had fared.

  Hurrying inside, she grabbed the phone and dialed Livvy’s number, waiting impatiently while the phone rang.

  “Hello?” Livvy finally answered on the third ring.

  “Livvy! Are you okay?”

  There was a cautious pause. Kate had forgotten completely about the strained manner in which they had parted.

  “Kate, is that you?”

  “Yes, it’s me. Are you okay? And how about the library? We drove out to Louisa Pellman’s house and—”

  “What? During the storm? Are you all right?” Livvy sounded very concerned.

  Kate realized that she had been babbling and was on the verge of hysteria. “Sorry.” She stopped and took several deep, calming breaths. “Paul and I were caught in the storm, and we saw a tornado. Paul and I got out of the car and laid in a ditch, and the car got blown down the road. Do you know if anything in town was hit?”

  “You saw a tornado! I haven’t heard about any damage, and I think the gossip train would already have stopped at this station if something major had happened. Kate, just how close were you to this tornado?”

  “How long is a football field?” As soon as she asked the question, Kate realized how ridiculous it was. She knew the answer already. It seemed as if all her brain cells had been shaken up and rearranged in patterns that weren’t fitting together quite right.

  “A hundred yards,” Livvy said automatically. “Fifty and fifty, remember? That’s close!” Her voice rose as Kate’s words sank in. “Did anything hit you? Do you have a concussion?”

  This was one of the more bizarre conversations Kate ever remembered having with her friend. She didn’t blame Livvy for thinking she’d been hit in the head. She chuckled. “No. Nothing hit me. Except Paul when he dragged me into the ditch and fell on me.”

  “Dragged you...? Tell. Me. Everything. In order, from the beginning.”

  Kate complied, and when she finished, there was a long moment of silence.

  “Oh, Kate,” Livvy whispered. “What a near miss.” Her voice caught. “I would never forgive myself if...if anything had happened...I’m sorry.” The words poured out. “When you wanted to talk earlier, I brushed you off. I’m sorry for that. I’m just so afraid...”

  Thinking about the library helped take Kate’s mind off her recent terror. “Afraid of what?”

  There was a silence. “I know it sounds paranoid, but I don’t want to talk on the phone,” Livvy said quietly. “Plus, the boys don’t know the details, and I don’t want them to find out what’s really going on. Can you meet me at the library tomorrow morning? We’ll find someplace private to talk.”

  “Of course,” Kate said instantly. “I’ll be there first thing.”

  “I promise I’ll explain then.” Livvy paused. “I’m going to go thank God for keeping you safe now.”

  “Good idea,” Kate said. “Paul and I did that once, but I think it bears repeating.”

  SHORTLY AFTER EIGHT on Monday morning, Paul left for the Pellmans’ house. Unfortunately, the power lines were still down. The power company had been by, though, because orange cones and a sign cautioned drivers that high-voltage lines were blocking the road. He was forced to take the same detour that he had used the night before.

  Daylight revealed more damage than he and Kate had noticed before. Trees had lost large branches, a shed on a farm had collapsed, and the Pellmans’ mailbox lay about three feet away from the post on which it had been fastened. Although it was the middle of summer, leaves were everywhere, casualties of the high wind that had stripped them from the trees.

  There were three cars already parked in the lane outside the Pellman place when he arrived. Getting out of his truck, Paul walked around the side of the house.

  “Hey, Paul.” Pete MacKenzie waved. Pete was the pastor of the Copper Mill Presbyterian Church. He stood with Ephraim Dresser and Drew Mears. All three men had their hands on their hips as they looked up at the roof.

  Paul walked over to join them. It was apparent, even from the ground, that the roof had taken quite a beating. Splintered edges of beams stood out jaggedly against the sky, and the ground was littered with shingles and pieces of asphalt paper.

  “How are you doing?” Ephraim asked. He was a big bear of a man with a bushy brown mustache and a gleaming bald pate. “Heard from Sam Gorman at the Mercantile that you got caught out here last night. He heard it from Danny Jenner’s oldest kid.”

  Paul knew by now how efficiently news was disseminated in Copper Mill. He’d bet phones had been ringing off the hook the previous night and this morning. “We’re fine,” he said. “Kate and I drove out here so I could show her the project. The tornado came right by us.”

  “I bet that was some kind of scary,” Drew Mears said.

  As slight as Ephraim was burly, Drew looked as if a good puff of breeze would blow him away. Paul had seen him scrambling around on the roof, though, and he knew Drew’s looks were deceiving. The little man was all muscle, as agile as a monkey.

  Paul nodded in response to Drew’s comment. “I don’t recommend it.” He gave the men a brief accounting of the tornado, pointing out the ditch in the distance where he and Kate had taken refuge. “Kate said she saw a corner of the roof get torn off,” he reported.

  Drew sighed. “More than a corner from the way it looks down here. Why don’t I go up and take a look? Then we can assess our options. Somebody want to help me get the ladder off my truck?”

  After a brief inspection, Drew came back down the ladder, shaking his head. “We’re going to need roughly twice as many bundles of shingles as I estimated before.” He pulled his features into a dejected expression. “We’re also going to need beams to replace supports. Some of the rafters went flying along with the roof. I guess I’ll work up an estimate, and we can meet tonight to talk about what to do next.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll let everyone know.” Pete’s voice was sober.

  Ephraim cleared his throat. “This looks like it’s going to take more than a week.” He glanced at Drew, who nodded.

  “Yeah,” said the roofer, “I suspect we’ll be working at least two more weeks. It’s a mess up there. We’re going to have to do some additional structural repairs before we can shingle.”

  “Two more weeks?” Pete sounded worried. “We’re going to have to talk to our volunteers and see if they’re willing to commit that much time. I know a lot of them were using personal days and vacation time to cover this.”

  “If not, perhaps we can get a second volunteer group together, either to work a second shift or to take over for a second week,” Paul said.

  “I’m afraid I’m in the can’t-give-more-time category,” Ephraim said. “I can help this week, but next week I have to trave
l out of town on business. It’s not something I can reschedule. Maybe I need to step down from chairing the committee and let someone who can be there from start to finish take over.”

  There was a short silence.

  Pete finally said, “Any idea who might consider it?”

  Each of them shook their heads.

  Ephraim sighed. “I’ll mention it when we all meet this evening. Perhaps someone’s heart will be moved to take on the project.”

  “Why don’t we pray before we leave?” Paul suggested. The words were a familiar echo to the ones he had uttered in almost that exact place the night before.

  Chapter Five

  After Paul left for the Pellmans’, Kate dressed in a yellow-and-white-striped seersucker camp shirt and khaki shorts in deference to the heat. She tied a sheer yellow chiffon scarf around her head to keep her hair out of the way, since she planned to work at the library for at least part of the morning.

  On the short drive from home, evidence of the previous night’s storm was everywhere.

  Even though the tornado hadn’t come through Copper Mill, the hail and powerful thunderstorm had done significant damage. Leaves and twigs littered streets and yards. On Main Street, a huge branch had broken from one of the big old trees. It had blocked the road at one point, although a crew with gas-powered chain saws had made progress on reducing it to movable sections.

  There were signs and cars with paint damage and pockmarks, indicating that the hail had come through town as well. Outside Betty’s Beauty Parlor, a sign hung at a crooked angle where the metal had torn away from the wall on one side.

  Kate pulled into the lot behind the library, parked right next to Livvy’s SUV, and got out of her car. Then she stopped short. Morty was perched at the top of a tall aluminum ladder, nailing plastic over one of the library’s second-floor windows.

  “Morning, Morty. Is that storm damage?” Kate called up to him.

  “Mornin’, Kate,” he returned. “Sure is.” He paused and twisted to look down at her. “I heard you and the mister had a little excitement last evening out at Skunk Hollow.”

  In the bright sunlight, with Morty grinning down at her, Kate found that she was able to laugh. “We did. I could live a hundred years without ever having that much ‘excitement’ again, let me tell you!”

  Morty was still shaking his head when she walked to the door after giving him a few details of her experience.

  To Kate’s surprise, she could see a dozen or more people scurrying around inside the library. Tugging open one of the heavy glass doors, Kate headed for the main office, where she could see Livvy standing with several other people.

  As she headed for them, a voice hailed her. It was Jeremy Pellman’s mother.

  As Louisa Pellman approached Kate, she scanned Kate’s face. “I heard about the tornado. Thank heavens you weren’t hurt. I would have felt terrible.”

  “Why?” Kate smiled. “Were you the one who chose the path of that storm?”

  Louisa could barely smile at the small joke. “It’s my house your husband is fixing. He’s doing me a kindness I can never repay.”

  “Around here,” Kate said, “we don’t repay. We pay it forward.”

  Louisa looked troubled. “If only it were that simple.”

  Kate opened her mouth to ask the young mother if there was something she could help her with, but just then Livvy approached.

  “Good morning, Kate.” Livvy looked as exhausted as she sounded. She gave Kate a warm hug, pulling her away from Louisa.

  “Good morning.” Kate hugged her back, instantly focused on her friend.

  “I’m so happy to see you unscathed.” As Livvy stepped back and glanced at her, Kate saw her friend’s eyes open wide. “Relatively unscathed,” she amended. Livvy winced. “How did you get that scratch on your cheek? That must have hurt.”

  Kate sent her friend a wry smile. “I never even noticed it.”

  Livvy briefly closed her eyes. “It’s a miracle neither of you was hurt badly.” She brushed a tender finger over Kate’s cheek.

  Kate nodded. “God was watching over us, I’m certain. I’d happily live the rest of my life without experiencing another terrifying event like that.”

  “I imagine so. I heard that a tornado touched down near Pine Ridge and destroyed a barn. I wonder if it was the same funnel cloud you saw.”

  “It could have been. As I can now attest, tornadoes can travel large distances very quickly. Although, thankfully, the one we saw wasn’t on the ground.”

  “We have a broken window upstairs,” Livvy told her. “I suppose it was the hail. Either that or something the wind slammed against it.”

  Kate grimaced in sympathy. “I saw Morty covering it. Anything damaged?”

  Livvy nodded. “Several of our historical publications got wet. I’m going to have to ask the town council to authorize funds for an expert to look at anything that needs serious recovery work.” She paused, taking in Kate’s clothes. “Did you come to help?”

  Kate nodded. “Among other things,” she said, subtly reminding her friend that she had promised to talk.

  “Great. You could go upstairs first and begin picking up the wet books. I already picked up the valuable ones I’m worried about, but there are others. I think if we lay them on some tables to partially dry, press them overnight, and then dry them again the next day, they’ll sustain the least damage until I can get them to a specialist. The pages could get very brittle if we aren’t careful.”

  Kate nodded. “All right. I’ll make that my first task.” She indicated all the people working in the stacks. “I thought I’d be right on time at nine, but I feel as if I’ve arrived late for the party. What time did everyone start?”

  “Eight,” Livvy said. “I’ve been working longer hours trying to get everything done before next Monday.”

  “What’s next Monday?”

  Livvy’s eyes began to tear up, and she took Kate’s arm, pulling her into the office. She closed the door behind them, turned and leaned against it, then said, “I received notice Friday morning from Tosten Glass, the president of the town council, that we have to be moved out of this building a week from today. Next Monday,” she added for clarification.

  “A week! Do the others know?” Kate asked.

  Livvy shook her head. “They know we need to move fast, but I haven’t told anyone how soon it’s supposed to happen.”

  “Why not?”

  “Mr. Glass told me I had to keep it quiet through the weekend. I think the council wants to make this happen quickly before there’s a big fuss when people find out. I need to announce it today, though, so everyone knows what kind of time constraints we’re up against.”

  Which meant it would be all over town by nightfall, given the speed with which news traveled in their tiny community.

  “There’s going to be a huge public outcry when people hear,” Kate predicted. She knew her face must have reflected the shock she felt. Even looking at the buzz of activity in the room beyond them, she could hardly take it in. “Something funny is going on here,” she said.

  “I don’t know what it could be.” Livvy’s voice trembled. “As far as I know, there’s nothing exciting or unusual about the library. Our budget is reasonable, our attendance is excellent. The computers are in use a high percentage of the time...” She trailed off, apparently unable to come up with anything negative to say about her beloved library.

  “Where are you moving to?” Kate asked. She couldn’t imagine a location better suited to the library than this one, right in the heart of the downtown area.

  Livvy shook her head. “I don’t know yet. I don’t think they’ve chosen a new place yet.”

  Kate was almost too stunned to respond. “They don’t have a new location? That’s insane!” She paused. “This must seem like a bad, bad dream to you, Liv. Do you really think you can pack up this entire library in one week?”

  Livvy shrugged. “I have no choice.” There was a hopeless, resigne
d quality to her response.

  “No choice?” Kate tilted her head. “Why do you say that? What would happen if you refused?”

  Livvy’s face lost every ounce of color. “I can’t do that!” Her tone was so vehement that Kate nearly stepped back a pace.

  “Why not? Yesterday you said you could lose your job. Is that what you mean?”

  Livvy clamped her lips shut and stared at Kate. “I can’t tell you,” she finally said. A tear escaped and ran down her cheek.

  “Livvy,” said Kate gently. “I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

  “There’s nothing you can do to stop it, Kate.” The librarian shook her head. There was an almost frightened expression on her face.

  “I can try,” Kate said with determination. “With or without knowing everything you know, I have to try to find out why this is happening.”

  “No!” Livvy burst out, her face flushing. “Someone threatened to fire me if I told anyone what was going on. I only received permission to talk to the volunteers today because the library can’t be packed and moved without them. Kate, you cannot let it get out that I told you any of this. I could lose my severance package if it gets out that I’m trying to stop the closing or even talking about it other than to announce the closing to the volunteers.”

  Kate was appalled at the threat. It certainly was an effective way to frighten someone into compliance. “Who’s responsible?” There had to be some way to stop them without letting on that Livvy had spoken to Kate.

  “I don’t know.” Livvy bit her lip. “Tosten Glass is the one who told me about the closing and gave me the deadlines, but he never threatened to fire me. Not openly, at least.”

  “So you didn’t see the person? Was it a phone call?”

  Livvy shook her head. “It was an unsigned note left on my desk. Done on plain, old copy paper, so there’d be no way to trace it even if I wanted to.”